An AirAsia X flight from Sydney to Kuala Lumpur had to reroute to Melbourne Airport after the plane suffered a technical issue.

A spokesman for Air Services Australia says the pilot decided to turn around flight XAX223 as a precautionary measure, and landed safely at 2pm (AEDT).

Reports say the flight eventually took off for Kuala Lumpur at 5.13pm (AEDT) after the delay.

• AirAsia X flight aborted after malfunction
• Co-pilot was in control when jet crashed
• Hopes fade of finding more AirAsia victims
• Indonesia military calls off AirAsia recovery

According to the Civil Aviation and Safety Authority, the plane’s navigation system and map display were malfunctioning.

The pilot is believed to have turned back to Melbourne as the weather was more favourable than Sydney.

An AirAsia spokesman said: “We would also like to clarify that it was a precautionary diversion and not an emergency landing”.

On February 8 pilots of an AirAsia X flight from Kuala Lumpur to Jeddah, western Saudi Arabia, aborted the flight and circled for hours to burn off fuel before landing safely in Malaysia.

AirAsia X is a long-haul, budget airline based in Malaysia, and a sister company of AirAsia.

This comes less than three months after an AirAsia Airbus A320 plunged into the Java Sea, while en route from Surabaya, Indonesia, to Singapore, killing all 162 people on board.

.@AirAsia confirms flight 223 from Sydney to KL made precautionary diversion not emergency landing at @Melair due to technical issue. #9News

— Nine News Sydney (@9NewsSyd) March 10, 2015

– with ABC